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Gloria

Winner - Best Actress at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival

58-year-old Gloria (Paulina García) has a lust for life. Whether she’s dancing to disco music, making eyes at attractive strangers or strapping herself into a harness for an afternoon of bungee-jumping, the charismatic Gloria doesn’t let being single stop her from having fun. When she meets retired naval officer Rodolfo (Sergio Hernández) on the dancefloor, the two hit it off and she sees the potential for a new chapter in her love life. However, it turns out that Rodolfo has some baggage – and that he isn’t quite as ready to move on from his past as they had both hoped.
It is no surprise that García was awarded the coveted Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival for her fearless performance as the eponymous Gloria. García shines in Gloria’s small moments of rebellion; we are encouraged to laugh as she playfully drops Rodolfo’s mobile phone into a bowl of soup, when she wakes up hungover on a beach with only one shoe, when she rolls her eyes at a needy (and comically ugly) hairless stray cat who decides to take up residence in her apartment. And yet, the film never strays into the realm of parody, affording its protagonist an unshakeable sense of self-worth and dignity. Gloria’s self-possessed confidence is never more apparent (or alluring) than in the film’s love scenes, which celebrate both her unapologetic sensuality and her body, in all of its wrinkled, fleshy glory.
Lelio’s camera stays with Gloria for the duration of the film, for this is a film about a woman who is the star of her own life. Gloria is very much in the spirit of Laura Branigan’s 1982 pop song of the same name – a song which, rather amusingly, does feature in the film – and is a triumphant one-two punch of sexual liberation and joy.
– Simran Hans, Film4Official Trailer